Joseph Aubuchon (1770—1855)

Joseph Aubuchon Sr was born 8 Oct 1770 in Kaskaskia, Randolph County, Illinois, the son of Gabriel Aubuchon Sr. and Angelique Pilet. Joseph was the great-great-grandson of Jean Aubuchon, who left his native Dieppe, Normandy, France, for Montreal in 1648. Joseph’s ancestry was primarily French; however, his paternal grandmother, Marie Mean, was a Pawnee Indian.

Sometime before 1793 and perhaps as early as 1788, Joseph Aubuchon emigrated to Spanish Upper Louisiana, apparently moving to St. Louis, Missouri, along with the Creely family, relatives of his deceased mother and other Aubuchon families.

On 3 Mar 1794, Joseph married Marie Magdaleine Kiercereau at the Basilica of St. Louis, King of France (Old Cathedral) in St. Louis. Marie was the daughter of Gregorie Kiercereau, Sr. and Madeleine St. François. Marie’s father Gregorie was a private for the village of St. Louis’s militia during the Battle of San Carlos. Marie’s grandfather, Rene Kiercereau, was with Pierre Laclede and Auguste Chouteau at the founding of St. Louis.

Joseph Aubuchon served as an ensign during the War of 1812. He and Marie had a large family. Researchers have reported various numbers but agree that there were between eighteen and twenty-five children. Their eldest child was born in 1795 and the youngest was born in 1824. a twenty-nine-year span. Marie was forty-seven years old when her youngest child was born.

Joseph and Marie Aubuchon’s known children were Joseph Jr. (1795–1871), Marie Therese (1796–unk), Gregorie (1798–1873), twins Pierre and Antoine (1799–1872), Philibert (1802–1870), Marie Therese (Aubuchon) Lorraine (1804–aft 1870), François (1807–1879), Jean B. (1807–1839), Auguste (1813–1865), Paul (1813–1814) Cecile (1815–1815), Cecile (Aubuchon) Tebeau (1816–1858), Paul (1818–unk.), Jerome (1820–1823), Emilie (Aubuchon) Higgins (1821–1905), and Antoine(?) Jerome (1824–1868).

Joseph Aubuchon Sr. died on 3 Mar 1855 in Florissant, St. Louis County, Missouri. He was buried in the “second” St. Ferdinand Cemetery, but his remains were reburied at the current St. Ferdinand Cemetery about 1876. Marie died on 28 Jan 1833, also in Florissant.

Joseph and his brother Gabriel were founders of Florissant. Both were farmers. Joseph was described as “a man of temperate habits & equable temper, of great physical strength and never had any sickness, until two or three days before his death.”Two more Aubuchon men also settled in Florissant, Louis Aubuchon and (another) Joseph Aubuchon, distant cousins to Joseph and Gabriel. Louis was born on 1 Nov 1771, in Bertierville, Quebec. He married Marguerite Kiercereau on 11 June 1804, in Florissant. Marguerite was a sister to Marie (Kiercereau) Aubuchon. Louis and Marguerite had seven children and relocated to St. Charles, Missouri. Joseph married Marie Berthelot and had no children. This prolific family worshiped at St. Ferdinand Church in Florissant, where more than ninety children of theirs were baptized between 1790 and 1840.

(Sources include websites, church records, books, and journal and newspaper articles)

Written by Kevin T. Kelly, a descendant of Philibert Aubuchon
November 2024

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